Government’s resistance to prosecutor’s anticorruption drive has sparked Romania’s biggest protests since the fall of Communism

BUCHAREST, Romania—Not long ago, the prosecutors at Romania’s anticorruption office rarely took on a bribery suspect bigger than a schoolteacher or a small-town cop. Often, the criminal gift was a pig, a lamb or a turkey.

These days, the National Anticorruption Directorate is investigating some 2,100 abuse-of-office cases, many against top politicians. Senators, parliamentarians and ministers have had to stand trial, and alleged damages investigated last year totaled €1 billion ($1.06 billion). Whistleblowers have started...

RELATED VIDEO

Protesters Create Giant Romanian Flag

Thousands of protesters, demonstrating against corruption, held up lights in the color of the Romanian flag in the square outside the Romanian government offices Sunday. Photo: Associated Press